The Aztecs lost their next game, 70-67 at Air Force, along with any realistic hope of contending for a conference title. It was a calculated decision, though, knowing that a healthy X in March was more valuable than a hobbled X in February.

Tapley bailed out the Aztecs in the next game, draining a 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left to beat Boise State at home. Thames has played in all nine games since, gradually increasing his minutes, gradually increasing his fitness, gradually increasing his confidence.

He seemed to turn a corner last Saturday at Boise State, with 16 points in 18 second-half minutes. On Wednesday in Las Vegas, he played a team-high 37 minutes and didn’t sub out in the second half.

“He makes a difference for us,” Fisher said, “there’s no question about that.”

It means a lock-down defender (he helped frustrate Boise State’s Derrick Marks into a 0-of-12 start). It means another perimeter scorer. It means making that extra dribble drawing a help defender and giving a shooter that extra split-second to set his feet. It means the return of SDSU’s screen-and-roll game.

Next up: The winner advances to the Mountain West tournament final on Saturday at 3 p.m. against UNLV or Colorado State.

Aztecs outlook: This is a rematch of the 2012 championship game (New Mexico won 68-59) and the third time in the last four years they have met in the MW tournament. The Aztecs are 11-2 over the last five years at the conference tournament, and a win would put them in their fifth straight final. Wednesday’s 73-67 victory against Boise State bumped SDSU’s RPI up to No. 28. A win or loss today won’t have any bearing on whether they make the NCAA Tournament, but it could impact their seed. Most prognosticators have them on the 8-9 line, with the prospect of facing a No. 1 seed in the second round. A win over a New Mexico team with a No. 2 RPI, you’d think, could elevate them to a 7. Having a healthy Xavier Thames should help. In two games playing with an injured back this season, he shot a combined 4 of 20 against the Lobos; in SDSU’s win at New Mexico last year, he had 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting.

Lobos outlook: As their bigs go, so go the Lobos. In the first meeting with SDSU, a 55-34 loss (and their fewest points in the shot-clock era), Kirk and Cameron Bairstow scored a combined two points on 1-of-12 shooting. In the second meeting, a 70-60 win, they had 41. SDSU employed a similar defensive game plan both times, faking the post double-team while staying home on the perimeter shooters. Said Coach Steve Alford: “I thought our spacing was really bad in Game 1 and we turned the ball over so much (17 times) that we let them get out on transition. In Game 2, our spacing was better, we didn’t turn the ball over (nine times), we went inside out, we got ball reversals and we were able to create a little bit more freedom to our offense.” So what do the Aztecs do this time? Play the post straight up? Bring the double team? Fake the double team again? It makes for an intriguing strategic decision.